Direct mount luminaires (herein ‘luminaires’) are recessed lighting units that are installed in mounting surfaces such as drywall ceilings or suspended ceilings without a recessed housing. The luminaires usually require electrical conductors to supply electrical power to the light sources of the luminaires. To be code compliant, i.e., to meet the National Electric Code (NEC) or other codes for safe installation of electrical wiring and equipment, the electrical conductors or any other electrical wiring to the luminaire are required to be routed through a junction-box that is assigned to the luminaire.
Conventional junction boxes are not configured to be installed in the ceiling or attached to a mounting frame that is disposed in the ceiling after the ceiling has been finished. So, typically, in new construction, conventional junction boxes must be installed, e.g., attached to the joists in the ceiling or to a mounting frame that is disposed in the ceiling prior to finishing the ceiling.
Further, conventional junction boxes are not configured to house electrical power supply components therein, such as a driver associated with a luminaire. Instead, in conventional luminaires, the driver associated with the luminaire may be disposed in or attached to a light module of the luminaire that comprises the light source. Said arrangement of a driver within the light module provides very little or poor thermal separation of the driver from the heat generated by the light source of the light module, which in turn may affect the longevity of the driver. Further, said arrangement does not allow the light module and the driver to be removed and replaced separately and easily because the light module and the driver may be attached as a single unit which may be inconvenient and undesirable.
The driver may be taken out of the light module and moved to the mounting frame (e.g., plaster frame) to provide flexibility and good thermal separation of the driver from the light source of the light module. However, said movement of the driver to the mounting frame may not be practicable because the mounting frame may not be configured to accommodate the separate footprints of both the junction box and driver. Expanding the mounting frame to accommodate both the junction box and driver separately will increase the manufacturing cost, which will eventually translate to higher product cost to the consumer.
Additionally, in conventional systems, the junction boxes are attached to the mounting frames using fasteners which require the installer to use tools, such as screw drivers or other appropriate fastening tools. Said conventional systems do not allow quick installation, removal, and replacement of the junction boxes.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed to be of possible relevance to the present disclosure. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present disclosure.